


A Thousand Several Tongues

by methylviolet10b



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes (Downey films)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Prompt Fic, References to Shakespeare, Watson's Woes July Writing Prompts 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:39:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11478777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: There's more than one kind of code, and more than one way of brainstorming keys.  Written for JWP #11.





	A Thousand Several Tongues

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Dialogue-only double drabble with many quotes and paraphrases. Written in a complete rush. And absolutely no beta. Written in a huge rush. Be very afraid. I know I am.
> 
> Author's Notes: Written for JWP #11: The Bard. We can't have a challenge without a little Shakespeare. Use a quote, a reference, or the man himself - it's all up to you.

  
“Bradshaw?”  
  
“Too many numbers, not enough letters.”  
  
“No, I suppose not…how about a Bible?”  
  
“Too common. That would be almost everyone’s first thought.”  
  
“Which is to say you’ve already thought of it, checked it, and it doesn’t work.”  
  
“That was very nearly an astute bit of reasoning, Watson.”  
  
“And that was very nearly a compliment, Holmes, but I’m not so easily fooled… Wait a minute. What’s in a name? Have you tried Shakespeare?”  
  
“The sonnets?”  
  
“No, I was thinking the plays.”  
  
“All of them?”  
  
“There are fewer than forty, and they would provide a wide variety for the coded messages.”  
  
“Almost too much, but very well. You take the plays, I’ll take the sonnets, and we’ll soon see if the plays’ the thing, or the poems.”  
  
“To catch the conscience of the criminals?”  
  
“The code, at any rate. I doubt this gang has a conscience among them.”  
  
“A peace above all earthly dignities,  
A still and quiet conscience.”  
  
“There is nothing either good or bad,   
But thinking makes it so.”  
  
“Touché, Holmes. Touché.”  
  
“Just a bit of a prince to answer your king, my dear Watson. Now let us see if Shakespeare holds more than quotes apt to any occasion.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted July 11, 2017.


End file.
